Enlivening Education Through Art By Jack Petrash: Article Analysis

In his article “Enlivening Education Through Art,” Jack Petrash supports the idea that using different art forms in the classroom as teaching techniques can often be more beneficial to both the teachers and the students as opposed to teaching without art. Creating visual art is a great way to get students engaged in the lesson. Almost every student can participate in the creative assignments, especially since artistic skill level is not important. Because creating art allows students to use higher thought processes, students can concentrate on the lesson and ruminate on what is being taught while they are working on their lesson-related art assignment. Tapping into one’s creativity brings emotions and memories into play; thus, while learning

It provides vivid story details and a compelling plot that allow the student to connect the story with the lesson. Petrash makes sure to mention that getting creative in the classroom is not exclusively for the students, but is also essential for the teacher. Petrash had the opportunity to study a group of teachers who all met together at the end of the school day and talked while working on a drawing project. Teachers commented that although they might have had a stressful school day, drawing helped them to calm down and unwind (Petrash, 2002). Certainly if teachers were to join their students in a more creative mindset and use higher thought processes, the classroom learning experience would be much more effective and exhilarating. Employing art in a classroom can be a very powerful approach to teaching. Personal, creative thinking and fresh, interesting hands-on learning experiences are powerful positive alternatives to information-based lectures and worksheets. Not only will integrating art into the lesson plan teach the students what they need to know, but it will provide them with an effective way to store their knowledge by learning with their whole selves, not just their